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| The port and starboard side planking have been installed. Overlap the plywood at the bow and do not try to angle them together. Make sure you read the plans and learn how to make a transition joint. I did not read that section, faired the planking to the chine, and will have some additional work down the line. The battens you see are Douglas Fir. The keel is White Oak. |
| I went ahead and installed the transom planking while I had easy access for clamping. I was holding off installing this due to upcoming modifications that are not in the plans. We'll see if I made the right decision. You can see the butt-block joint in the side planking. It is between the 1st and 2nd frames. Make sure you measure so that you do not wind up with this joint on top of a frame. |
| The planks are held in place with screws and small pieces of plywood where the bends were more pronounced. With the bottom planking only being 1/4" you can easily drill a screw all the way through the wood. Once the epoxy is cured, the clamp blocks come off. You might notice thickened epoxy on the port side. This is due to a poor/nonexistent transition joint. READ THE PLANS ON THIS. Also, there is a wide gap at the stern of the boat. This is because if I left a gap, I could use plywood I had already cut without having to cut up a new board. At $40 per sheet, this is important. When I install the inboard motor, this will be cut away anyway. |
The bottom planking is now trimmed. I have sanded the mating surfaces of the bottom and side planking. At the bow, my poor/nonexistent transition joint required a buildup of thickened epoxy on the inside of the hull and additional fairing on the outside of the hull. I did the minor fairing on the outside of the hull prior to fiberglassing because I was worried I might not get a good bond due to irregularities and imperfections in the surface. |
| I was not expected the slight concave aspect of the hull at the bow. You learn something new every day... |
| I coated the entire exterior with CPES (I've mentioned this before but CPES is just regular epoxy diluted with solvent.) The theory is that the solvent allows the epoxy to soak into the wood more thoroughly. Slower evaporating solvents will help with this. I have found that 1/3 Xylol and 2/3 epoxy gives me a good penetration. Seal the hull with CPES before fiberglassing. This way you insure that your fiberglass will not become starved of epoxy because it has penetrated the wood. CPES first will make sure there is enough epoxy left in the weave of the fiberglass. I am not fiberglassing at this stage because I want to do this after I install the motor. This requires flipping the hull, installing the motor, then flipping the hull again for fairing and painting, the flipping it back again for completion of the interior. I sure am glad it is only an 11' boat! |
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